Computer crash affects availability of city public records

Residents making public records requests regarding City of Menifee financial data may face longer than usual delays in receiving the information because of a computer crash that has forced city officials to re-enter all data, city officials said.

City Manager Rob Johnson said the crash of a computer server resulted in the loss of 18 months of financial data, dating back to January 2015. The crash occurred during the summer, but Menifee 24/7 just learned of the situation today when inquiring about a public records request. Johnson said the city's finance team, under the direction of Bruce Foltz, is re-entering the data.

There are hard copies of the information and all data will eventually be restored. Meanwhile, a resident asking for specific information may have to wait for that data to be re-entered if it hasn't already been, Foltz said.

"The City has a protocol for processing public records requests," Foltz said. "This procedure was established to track and follow all public records requests. Sarah Manwaring, city clerk, will manage the public records request to insure the information is provided.

"We did lose 18 months of financial data and are working frantically to restore the data."

Johnson said the city's backup computer server also crashed during a power outage when Southern California Edison workers were bringing online a new business next door to City Hall.

"The crash was found the next day by our IT manager," Johnson said. "The crash of the backup was found the same day when our IT manager attempted to restore the system from the backup. The IT community and restoration company called it 'a perfect storm'.

"Just to be very clear - the city lost electronic data that it is rebuilding with hard copy paper copies. The electronic system is being rebuilt, so the data is not lost -- just electronically not available at this time."